U.S. Open Eats: New Dehli Spice and Wine Bar Food

When we arrived at the US Open yesterday for the evening session, my first task was to suss out some eats before heading into the stadium. Following Ed's advice, we wanted to check out Curry & Curry's New Delhi Spice and Tony Mantuano's tapas bar, Wine Bar Food.

There's a vast selection of fast food-ish options available in the "Food Village" including hot dogs, burgers, ice cream, pizza, deli sandwiches, and sushi. Last night was the opening round so crowds were light and lines, if any, seemed to move quickly.

Curry & Curry samosas

We made a beeline for Curry & Curry's New Dehli Spice, near the middle of the long row of vendors in the village. We ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala "curried combo" served with rice and vegetables ($10.50), samosas ($7.50), and a fountain soda ($3.75). The samosas are vegetarian (lightly spiced potato filling) large and come three to an order. Nothing extraordinary, but they hit the spot. The chicken tikka masala is not surprisingly heavy on the sauce and light on the chicken. The side of curry vegetables had a pleasingly spicy kick, though the vegetables were a bit over done for. No surprises here—it's decent Indian food at stadium prices.

Next we headed around the bend to the South Plaza to check out Tony Mantuano's tapas bar named for his book, Wine Bar Food. The menu here is short and sweet: four wines by the glass and five small plates. We grabbed two seats at the bar and ordered the tomato bread with serrano ham and manchego cheese ($9) and the flaming ouzo shrimp ($13) and a glass of wine ($14). Food is prepared to order, and ours came out quickly. The shrimp are done well, served with small potato bites and a couple of jalepeno slices to provide some contrast. Tomato bread is tomato-in-the-hole topped with serrano ham and manchego cheese. Nice flavors, but the chew of the ham makes it difficult to eat in more than one bite without inadvertently deconstructing the whole thing. Overall, a pleasingly pleasant experience in an unexpected context.

Given the options, I'd rather enjoy a couple of tasty small plates than fill up on fast food.